‘Admn function a mere ritual’

Actors Kirron Kher and Poonam Dhillon,who also figured in the list of awardees,could not make it to the function. Surprisingly,the guest speaker of the day,whose name was printed on the invitation card,was also not present for the function.

Harjinder said,“I was approached by the Administration for receiving the honour,but refused when I realised there was no seriousness. The celebration has become a mere ritual with no genuine interest or sincerity on part of the organisers.”

She added that the civic body has a Women Empowerment Committee which remained completely silent on the day. “Not even a meeting was called. The civic body failed to organise a ceremony despite the presence of a woman as mayor.”

She recalled that during her tenure,a women resource centre had been inaugurated to mark Women’s Day.

Mayor Anu Chatrath,meanwhile,said the civic body never organised a function on Women’s Day.

“The initiative should have been taken by the Women Empowerment Committee or the Arts,Culture and Sports Committee,” she said.

The awardees included Anu Chatrath,other women councillors,Anuradha Sharma and Sarita Tewari of NGO Hamari Kaksha,Satinder Dhawan,Dr Deepti,Manju Bhalla,Santosh Singh,Dr Rajesh Gill,Savita Bhatti,Manjeet Mann,H Kauser and Irina Brar among others.